Marked by Nightmares
by Sengo OpalKnife
Summary: Johnathan Felix II ran away from home to live a life on his own; a life away from his abusive father and his accursed whiskey business. But when a chain of events occur starting with a nightmare of a mysterious woman, he begins to realize that his dreams and the fate of a strange, new world may be connected. But how? And why? Rated M for blood, violence, cursing & some adult themes
1. The Encounter

I wasn't much of a person to believe in magic, dreams, and the paranormal. Frankly, I wasn't a very superstitious individual either. I lived in a small farm house in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere with no parents or siblings; I moved here from my parent's house in the suburbs to start a life of my own living off the land and growing crops to sell at the local farmer's market. However, in my case, things don't turn out quite the way they should turn out as I expect them to.

Despite my luck right now, I cannot deny my past: I am the son of a wealthy businessman and a beautiful stay-at-home-mom whose only child (yours truly) was to inherit the family business. But I didn't want that, for I grew up with not only a wealthy father, but also a crazed alcoholic and abusive one. I'd rather not go into what my father did to me as punishment, but all I can say is this: I wanted nothing to do with him, including inheriting his whiskey manufacturing business; it's poison and I don't understand why people would drink such a thing. So I showed him my favorite finger and moved to a rural area far away from the accursed whiskey factory and the pollution that it caused in the hearts, minds and soul of mankind. But enough "touchy-feely" back-story, on with the real story!

As I was saying, I wasn't much to believe in magic, or dreams, or paranormal activities that usually followed them. But it wasn't until I started having a particular kind of dream; I may even say it wasn't even a dream at all, it was too damn realistic! And it would ultimately lead to a series of events that would plunge my world into another's, and eventually have myself pass into this new world.

My name is Jonathan Felix II, and this is the story of my adventures and my battles, my companionship and my rivalries with the denizens of Equestria, and overall the crossing of paths that should have never came to existence.

With every story comes a beginning, and my story starts with me...and with an entity...named Nightmare Moon...

* * *

><p>I awoke with a start, sweat clinging to my body and my forehead like dew-fall in the summer morning. I buried my face in my hands after looking them over, and sighed. "Another dream about that...thing..." I mumbled, lifting my head up and wiping the perspiration off my hair and my face. I glanced over at the alarm clock on the bedside, which read 2:39am. <em>That's odd...<em> I thought to myself, _I went to bed at 3:13. How could it be 2:39?_ Thinking it was just the clock getting broken again, I reached over and reset the clock, looking at my phone's clock; the most accurate one in the house.

Which read 2:40am. I shook my head a couple of times and glanced again at the clock, not believing what I was seeing. "Am I still dreaming?" I asked myself, scratching my head and wondering what the hell was going on.

"...possibly, young colt." A female voice antagonized from the darkness of my room. Startled by the hearing of this new voice, I attempted to flick on the light switch on my bed-side lamp, but the bulb was out. _I should have changed the damn light-bulb before I went to bed..._ I thought to myself. Slowly turning my head back to the darkness, I saw a shape of someone in the darkness; a slender woman, yet it didn't seem that human in my eyes. As the figure stepped into the moonlight shinning from my window beside the bed, I began to see more features of her: Dark blue hair that shone like the night sky, cold purple eyes that stared at me like a venomous snake, a set of armor covering her bust and waist which extended to her legs. But what really stood out was not these features: She had wings of a fallen angel; black as night, battered and featherless in some places, and a black crown that had a gemstone in the shape of a crescent moon. As she approached me, she grinned a sharp, toothy smile that showed fangs that she had for teeth. I cowered to my bedside in fear, and fell off my bed in the process of doing so.

Yet this...thing continued to advance to my position. I scrambled for the door, but the door itself seemed to cower away from me, and eventually faded from existence, with the rest of the room following suit. Soon, I was lying in the middle of cold, black nothingness; the darkness seemed to be all around me, yet I could see my self in the midst. The only thing that remained was the bright moon shining above me and the advancing figure. "There's nowhere to run from me, colt." The woman taunted, a forked tongue sliding over her lips hungrily. As I turned to face her again, my heart seemed to stop.

She was right there, standing over me, grinning like a mad woman.  
>"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" I screamed, cowering away from her the best I could. But she was quicker, and grabbed my shirt, hoisting me up and then grabbed my shoulders, chuckling. Her grip was ice cold and sent a shock of pain throughout my body.<p>

"I want a meal, why else would I be here?" She said, and I squirmed a bit under her grasp, but she held on like a crocodile going in for the death-roll. She then grabbed one of my arms, and with her fang-ridden mouth agape, bit my forearm. I yelled in pain, and in retaliation landed a blow against her in her face, causing her to yelp and release her teeth from my limb and cower back, clutching her mouth with her hands. I looked at my forearm: It hurt like hell from the attack, and was bleeding a good amount; the teeth-marks stood out like craters on a moon's surface, but what struck me about them was that they were in the shape of a crescent moon; she must have had two rows of teeth. "Oh, I absolutely _love it _when my prey fights back..." She taunted, spitting out a little bit of blood before leaping at me and pinning me to the ground. I tried with all my might to release myself from her grasp, but she was too strong; I was doomed.

"You are a curious type, John." The woman stated, running a finger down the side of my face and stopping at my chin, which she lifted and turned my head from side-to-side, examining it, as if trying to find another place to strike. "But it doesn't matter. You're mine now..." She taunted, raising a purple-aura-shrouded fist above her in the process of striking my head. Before she could do so, however, she was thrown back by some unseen force, screaming in the process. "No!" She yelled, fading away into darkness,"The spell is wearing off! I'm not going back until I have...!" As her voice trailed away, I saw that my room was slowly coming back to existence, and I slowly drifted off into unconsciousness.

"It's only a dream..." I said to myself as everything went black.


	2. The Fortune

I awoke that morning to the sound of a rooster calling the morning sunrise. I yawned, stretched my limbs and swung out of my bedside, landing on the hard wooden floor, startling my cat who was sleeping in his basket on the adjacent wall in front of me. I chuckled at him.

"Morning Sebastian." I said, walking up to him and stroking his back, causing him to purr and stretch his body and yawn in a distinct feline fashion. As I got dressed, I looked outside my bedroom window from where I was standing: it was a beautiful autumn morning outside. The maple tree just outside the windowsill was already orange and red, the leaves gently falling from its branches in the slight breeze. A sparrow chirped in the midst of this wash of color, sitting in a knob of the tree itself, possibly trying to keep warm in the chill air. As I looked on, I saw a younger sparrow try to fly out of the tree's knob, and take to the air. It made me think of my mother at home, and my father...

I shook the thought away, not wanting to have anything to do with my family at the moment; they were past, and my father I hated especially. I finished dressing myself in a hoodie, jeans and a t-shirt and I was about ready to put on my work shoes when I heard a knock at my door downstairs. It's probably the mailman delivering his daily rounds I thought to myself. That is before I looked at the clock, which said 12:28, which was odd because the mailman didn't come until about 2:30. What could this possibly mean? Was it a visitor? Was it a package?

Curiosity took a hold of me and I rushed downstairs to the living room, where I unlatched and opened the door to see who it was. Surprisingly, there was no one there. Instead, there was just a small package with an envelope attached labeled "To Jonathan Felix II". I picked up the package, and looked it over. I wasn't expecting something like this for quite a while, and I hadn't ordered anything recently, so why would something turn up out of the blue like this. "Eh, might as well." I said to myself as I opened the envelope and took out the contents: A letter, and a small skeleton key. I started to read the letter whilst looking over the key.

_Dear John,_

_This may sound weird and all, but I need your help._

"Oh boy," I said to myself, "Another donation/prank letter..." I continued to read.

_I have heard about your "strange" dreams you have been having lately, and they are connected to what I may be trying to find._

Hold on, how did this person know about my dreams I've been having?

_I would like to meet you in person. Take the key included in here, and don't open the package. Go to 3736 Maple Ave in your hometown at precisely 10:31pm and open the door with the key. Make sure you are alone and have the package in hand. We will talk more there._

_Sincerely, AnonymousHelper._

"That is just plain weird..." I said to myself as I placed the letter on the table beside me and put on my coat and opened the door once more to go to the market to pick up some supplies for this winter's season.

* * *

><p>When i arrived at the market, it wasn't as busy as i would thought it would be: there was almost no activity, there were almost no vendors up, and those vendors that were up weren't doing anything but being on their smartphones and talking amongst one another. But i went to the usual places i go to whenever i go to the market: the seed shop, the soil shop, and the bakery for some fresh flour so i can make bread in the meantime. As i was walking back to my car to load up my groceries, i heard a familiar voice call out to me.<p>

"Hey Jon!" An elderly voice called from outside a gypsy's tent, "Want your fortune today?" I chuckled.

"Not today Grace." I answered before starting my way back again.

"How bout if i do it for free?" Grace responded, causing me to stop and think for a bit. I used to go to her for my fortune every time i went to the market when I first came to this small town. And i haven't really gotten one in a while, let alone the chance to do so. And to get one for free...

"Alright." I answered her, walking to her tent with the groceries still in hand, following the gypsy lady inside.

* * *

><p>The tent was just as i had remembered it to be when i was last here: roomy for a tent of it's type, drapes of many shades hanging like curtains on the walls and from the ceiling, a small table in the center with two chairs on either side facing north and south. Grace was seated on the one adjacent to the one in front of me, motioning me to sit.<p>

"How long has it been since you had your fortune taken here, Jon?" Grace asked, shuffling her deck of unique tarot cards.

"I honestly lost track of time," I answered her honestly, "I haven't been since fall two years ago, and i really haven't had the time to get one taken..." Grace chuckled, placing the deck in front of me face down.

"Cut the deck into three piles when you are ready." She said, cracking her knuckles as she said so. I remembered this deck: it was that strange deck of horses that she used quite often when i was younger, and its been God knows how long since I've seen her pull this deck out of it's place. I wonder why she was pulling it out again...?

I cut the deck into three piles, and then placed them back into one pile, which Grace then took and started to deal the cards.

"Lets see what your past has experienced..." She said as she placed the card down, which depicted a stallion and a mare with a young foal, and was inverted. "This is The Couple." Grace explained, "It represents fellowship and friendship of those that you were close to. When it is inverted, it means that you have gotten astray from that fellowship and friendship, and want to drive all sources of that feeling away from you."

She was right. Actually, she was dead on. I watched as she drew the next card and placed it in front of me, depicting a pegasus with one hoof in a lake, and one hoof on a lakeside rock, wings outspread. Behind him was a sky half day and half night, with the sun and the moon on either side respectively.

"For your present," Grace started, "You have The Traveller. He represents the course of change and new discoveries within one's self, and can very well mean the turning point in your life."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked curiously. She smiled at me.

"That is for you to find out, Jon." Grace explained, drawing the last card in the process, "I alone cannot answer that question for you. You must find it within your travels." When Grace played the last card, her eyes grew wide and seemed very intrigued or very frightened. I couldn't tell which one.

"Whats wrong with this one?" I asked Grace, pointing to the card depicting a purple and blue swirling tempest tearing through a tower made of wood and stone, with a pair of red and orange eyes within the tempest itself. She then fixed her own, pale blue eyes on me with a stare that could very well frighten a grown man like myself (believe me, it did).

"You have the Tower for your future." She explained, "and you're on your way to a cataclysmic event. Something big is going to happen, and i don't know what. But all i can say is that it may not be good for you..." I trembled a bit at that statement in pure fright. What could possibly happen to me? And those eyes within the tempest did not look very friendly or peaceful at all. Grace then placed her hands out on the table, palm up. "Give me your hands." She commanded.

"Why?" I asked her, cautiously placing my hands on top of her's whilst doing so. Grace didn't respond other than closing her eyes and breathing in deep.

"I see a house." She started, "A house in the suburbs…were you told to go to this house, Jon?" Dumbfounded I nodded my head in reply. "I see a pathway through the door to a forest of darkness and gloom…" She continued, "And you shall find yourself in a world not like ours…A phrase keeps popping up in my head: 'Time is short, lone ranger, for the kingdom's six are in grave danger…'." She then paused for a little bit, and I admit, I got a little antsy.

"What else is there?" I asked her. She sighed again, then continued her reading.

"You are in some room with an altar, with you upon it, and six figures are surrounding you in a circle. Each one carrying an amulet of some power. You too have an amulet, but it's…shrouded in a fog; I cannot see what it is. The altar has an inscription upon it, but I cannot make out what it is saying…" She then opened her eyes and withdrew her hands from under mine. "Very good." She announced with a smile.

"What's good?" I asked Grace, confused by her announcement. Before she could answer, my phone in my pocket started to buzz. "Excuse me." I said before getting up from my chair and walking outside the tent to answer the call.


	3. A Strange Situation

I arrived at my house shortly after I ended the phone call with a strange voice; It was odd, and seemingly ominous of what was about to happen to me in the future, little did I know at the time. Dismissing the thought of the call I unlocked my door and strode into the farmhouse that I call home, where I was greeted by my old feline-friend meowing hungrily. It was then that I forgot to feed the poor fellow before I left.

"Alright, Sebastian, alright." I muttered, a little annoyed at his cries for sustenance, but it happened so often that it was a usual daily routine for me: I arrive, he starts to plead for food, I give it to him, boom, all is well. So I walked into the kitchen and set my groceries down on the table. My cat followed me into the kitchen, still crying out for nourishment to ease his hunger. As I poured some dry kibbles for Sebastian, which he eagerly waited for by rubbing against my legs and mewing, I spied the package and skeleton key on the table beside the front door, and noticed that there was something else next to them. It was a small neck-charm of sorts. I walked over to it: The pendant was shaped like a dragon's head facing forward, and had six, small, similarly shaped holes lining the bridge of it's nose I two rows of three. "How did this get here...?" I said to myself as I slipped the necklace around my neck and let it rest against my chest, "Whatever, it's cool looking anyway..."

Not even a second later after I slipped on the pendant, there was a loud knock at the door, which startled the hell out of me. "Who is it?" I asked cautiously.

"Is anyone home?" A rough-sounding, toned female voice emitted from behind the door, "I'm lost and I need directions..." Puzzled, I opened the door, and saw a woman of about my age standing in the doorway. She had short red and blue hair that was neatly ridged and swung to the side, and was dressed in stereotypical biker-gear: bike-goggles on the head, leather clothing, even a bandana that sported a lightning bolt across the front. I have to admit, she was kinda hot, and I felt my eyes wandering across her body, looking her up and down a couple of times. "Ahem," She coughed, a little irritation in her tone, "Eyes up here..."

"Oh, sorry." I chuckled, which the girl replied with only a groan and an eye-roll. "Anyways, where do you need pointers to? I'm sure I can point you in the right direction if you'd like?"

"I need to get to 3736 Maple Avenue," The girl stated, handing me a sheet of paper with the address written on it, "My friends told me to meet me there by 10:31pm tonight." I had to take a step back at that statement, recollecting the call that I had received from that strange voice.

* * *

><p>"Hello?" I said into the phone, walking into the afternoon sunlight outside the tent.<p>

"...Jonathan?" A female voice called from the other side, almost as a whisper.

"Yes, this is he," I answered into the phone, "Who is this?"

"Um...well...uh..." the voice tried to speak, but sounded very shy over the phone, almost as if she was a girl asking me out over a phone call, but soon that shyness became fearful tone, and she sounded like she was crying out for help away from the phone's receiving end, "Twilight! I can't do it!" A series of rustles were heard, then another voice piped in, also female but seemed a little more stern, yet gentle.

"Let me handle this, Fluttershy." The voice called out near the phone, which I then heard someone pick up the phone and fumble with it a bit. "Damn thumbs!" The voice mumbled.

"Who is this?" I asked again, a little weirded out and ready to hang up the phone because of the awkwardness.

"Sorry for my friend," the voice responded, "She's a little shy when it comes to meeting new people; it's her nature. My name is Twilight. Is this Johnathan Felix?"

"...Yes?" I answered again, a little annoyed.

"Good." The voice sighed in relief, "Anyways, have you encountered a lost girl yet? We haven't heard from her in a while." That was the last thing I could take.

"Look," I said, "If you have a 'lost girl', don't call random strangers like me; Call the police. I'm going to get off the phone now and I am going to be on with my day. Have a nice day." I then hung up the phone before anything else could be said.

* * *

><p>"You..." I stammered, "You're the lost girl."<p>

"What?" The girl in the doorway asked, a confused look on her face. Without a another moment to spare, I darted for the phone on the wall and punched in 9-1-1. After a few tones a voice piped in.

"911, what's your emergency?" A male voice rang from the other side.

"Yes," I started, "My name is Johnathan Felix II, and I would like to report a lost adult? And a possible address of concern?"

"Okay," The voice answered, "Give us a name and the address please?" Before I could say anything, a hand snatched the phone away from me and slammed it back on the wall. I turned to see the girl with her hand on the phone, an angry look in her eyes.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, "What the hell are you trying to-" I was silenced by the girl moving at an inhumane velocity to pin me to the wall, the same angry look in her eyes as before.

"Are you insane?!" She exclaimed, "I was asking for directions! Not asking to be reprimanded by humans!" I gave her a puzzled look.

"Humans?" I asked, chuckling, "Are you fucking kidding me? You actually believe you aren't a human? Cause you certainly look like one to me." The girl released me from her grasp, and backed away from me.

"Fine." She said, "I don't need your help. I'll find my own way then!" She then barged out the door before I could object to anything (like I wanted to anyway...). After a short silence, I heard a motorcycle engine starting up, then a squealing of it's tires as it drove away. I sighed, and closed my front door.

"What an egghead." I muttered before going up the stairs, not realizing that the amulet I was wearing had it's eyes glowing a deep blue.

* * *

><p>I entered my room and flung myself on the bed, rubbing my face out of frustration and anger. Who was that girl anyway?How did she know the call? It didn't matter, nor did the envelope, which I remembered was still downstairs.<p>

"Might as well dispose of that." I sighed as I walked back down the stairs and grabbed the envelope on the counter.

In that very moment, the power in the house flickered and then short circuited, plunging me into darkness.

"Ah shit." I mumbled, fumbling my way through the dark to the fuse box, "There goes the power. I thought I replaced the fuse a week ago?" Eventually, I made my way into the garage, where it was even darker than inside the house, and found the fuse box. But something was off…

"…where are the fuses?" I breathed, not believing what I was seeing. Sure enough, as i felt the empty slot of the box, the fuses were literally ripped out of their sockets. Who could have done this?

"Yes," a sultry, female voice sounded from behind me, "Who indeed?" I turned, and my heart almost stopped as I realized who the voice belonged to. The black winged, blue haired woman smiled a toothy grin. "Now, where were we, young colt?" She hissed as she stepped towards me.


End file.
